the wrong enemy

I am blockquoting this whole thing from Jeff Jarvis, as he picked out the prize paragraphs:
[Before you read this, let it be known that I do think grieving parents should be given a bit of leeway in situations like this; as I've said many times in just the past week, grief makes people do and say things that may not seem rational to others. However, Mr. Berg was a far, far leftie before his son was murdered. Everything I have read about and by the man leads me to believe that he truly believes in everything he is saying below]

People ask me why I focus on putting the blame for my son's tragic and atrocious end on the Bush administration. They ask: "Don't you blame the five men who killed him?" I have answered that I blame them no more or less than the Bush administration, but I am wrong: I am sure, knowing my son, that somewhere during their association with him these men became aware of what an extraordinary man my son was. I take comfort that when they did the awful thing they did, they weren't quite as in to it as they might have been. I am sure that they came to admire him.
I am sure that the one who wielded the knife felt Nick's breath on his hand and knew that he had a real human being there. I am sure that the others looked into my son's eyes and got at least a glimmer of what the rest of the world sees. And I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment, did not like what they were doing.
George Bush never looked into my son's eyes. George Bush doesn't know my son, and he is the worse for it. George Bush, though a father himself, cannot feel my pain, or that of my family, or of the world that grieves for Nick, because he is a policymaker, and he doesn't have to bear the consequences of his acts. George Bush can see neither the heart of Nick nor that of the American people, let alone that of the Iraqi people his policies are killing daily....
Even more than those murderers who took my son's life, I can't stand those who sit and make policies to end lives and break the lives of the still living....
So what were we to do when we in America were attacked on September 11, that infamous day? I say we should have done then what we never did before: stop speaking to the people we labelled our enemies and start listening to them. Stop giving preconditions to our peaceful coexistence on this small planet, and start honouring and respecting every human's need to live free and autonomously, to truly respect the sovereignty of every state. To stop making up rules by which others must live and then separate rules for ourselves.

I do understand why a lot of people are anti-Bush. Their belief system varies from mine and that's all well and good. Different strokes, etc. But this goes beyond reason.
Like Jeff said, Mike Berg is using his son as a poltical pawn. Worse, he is using his son's death to gain sympathy for terrorists.
And I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment, did not like what they were doing.
The shouts of Allahu Akbar and the excuberant chanting tells me otherwise.
So this guy thinks that in response to 9/11, we should have stopped what we were doing and gone over for a group hug with those people so we can better get to know them and find out why they want to kill us so.
Root causes, my ass. You know what the root cause of all this? For 2,000 years, radical Islamists have believed that they own the right to chop off the heads of infidels. Last I checked, George W. Bush was not around 2,000 years ago.
And let me tell you, Mr. Berg - if George Bush had looked into your son's eyes, it wouldn't be while he was slicing his head off.
Proof is in the pudding. Even if the terrorists that killed Nick Berg found him to be a wonderful human being who supported their cause, they still killed him. Is Mike Berg ok with that?
I'm never going to get tired of repeating this: They. Will. Kill. You. When they attack us again - and they will - they will kill you, too. They will not care if you belong to ANSWER or Move On. They will not care that you support them. They will not be going through the buildings or subways or whatever structure they plan to blow up and pull out the anti-war people. Make no mistake, they hate you. They will use you as pawns while they can but in the end, you'll be on the same end of their terrorism as I will. You are completely delusional if you think otherwise, just as you are delusional if you think this war of civilizations can ever be settled. People who believe that their god gives them the right to slice necks and blow up buildings will never, ever come to a peaceful settlement of any kind, at least not one that doesn't involve your conversion to Islam.
Mike Berg is an opportunist who is seizing the moment of his son's death as a way to spread his leftist propaganda.
How incredibly disgusting.
[More from the Captain]

TrackBack

» I hope this is just grief talking. from Spot On
Nick Berg's father thinks that the terrorists who chopped off his son's head and posted the video on the internet might have admired his son. It's a problem when you hate Bush more than the men who killed your child... [Read More]

» Nick Berg's Father Speaks More from Slant Point
While it is a hard decision to "pick" on a grieving father, the overall incident makes everything related larger than life. I personally wish we could let him alone, but he spoke publicly, and he said some disturbing things. Excerpt: I am sure that the... [Read More]

» Nick Berg's Father Speaks More from Slant Point
While it is a hard decision to "pick" on a grieving father, the overall incident makes everything related larger than life. I personally wish we could let him alone, but he spoke publicly, and he said some disturbing things. Excerpt: I am sure that the... [Read More]

» yikes. from the red pages
So it's the daily A Small Victory Freaky Rant Round-Up. From one of Michele's recent posts: Root causes, my ass. You know what the root cause of all this? For 2,000 years, radical Islamists have believed that they own the... [Read More]

» A word to the wise from protein wisdom
Sure, he's an unconscionable ideologue despoiling the memory of his publically beheaded son. But don't you dare call him unpatriotic... **** More. And etc.... [Read More]

» Michael Berg, Moral Coward from Captain's Quarters
I can understand the grief of a parent mourning the loss of a treasured son, and how that grief can lead a father to lash out irrationally. I try to make allowances for those unfortunate enough to find themselves in... [Read More]

» the wrong enemy
from This Ain't Rocket Science
When I saw this over at A Small Victory , I felt like it should be something I commented on but I don't think that I can find the words. Some leeway needs to be given to people in grief, but when someone makes a statement like this in the press it ... [Read More]

» http://WWW.JESSICASWELL.COM/MT/archives/001412.html from Jessica's Well
Michael Berg, father of American Nick Berg who was beheaded by George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz...oh, yeah, Al Qaida terrorists still thought not to be in Iraq by professional fact gatherers like the New York Times and... [Read More]

» Suicide Bombers In The U.S. And Terrorist Sympathizers from Insults Unpunished
Spoons has a couple of good posts on the potential for suicide bombers in the U.S. (see here and here). Like Spoons, I've wondered why this hasn't happened yet for a few years now. I even had a conversation with a friend a couple of years ago a... [Read More]

» BLOG: End of The Week Non-Baseball Links from Baseball Crank
An accumulation: *Gen. Anthony Zinni has a new book out this summer, entitled "Battle Ready," co-authored by Tom Clancy and chronicling Zinni's career. Sure sounds like a guy auditioning for VP to me. *Michael King has some thoughts on a... [Read More]

» Outrage of the Week - Welcome to War from Barefoot And Naked
As a nation we seem not only obsessed with the images of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib but absolutely reveling in it. It’s like we’re saying, “Tee hee giggle ha, wet my pants, we Americans are a bunch of bastards. Just like I thought—we’re really the ... [Read More]

Comments

People like that need to know,very clearly,that they either get out of the way and let the adults do some defending or they risk getting caught in the crossfire.They have no right to tell me that I cannot defend my family.They are not with us,therefore thay are against us.Simple math.

He's a man trying to find solace in ideology. Ive seen this behaviour amongst a few relatives of the Bali bombing victims, one of whom has gone as far as running for parliament against our foreign minister.

I feel sorry for this man and I think he should be ignored by the media for the sake of his health.

Mike Berg is not taking solace in ideology.
He was pimping his son's death for The Cause before the kid was buried.
Berg is one of those true believers for whom only one Truth matters and they will, and are expected to, do such horrible things as ruthlessly use even the death of a loved one in the service of that to which they have given everything.

We didn't "stop label[ them] our enemies" until they killed thousands of us. As to "honouring and respecting every human's need to live free and autonomously", respect is a two way street, and they haven't earned it. They are murderers.

saw that sign yesterday "war is not the answer". catchy phrase for the left but it does nothing, gives no answer. until someone from the left gives a viable plan other than this ideal, i will go on believing that history bears out a violent response to evil.

As I've said before, the one consistent thing about the Left in America is that they underestimate the deadly nature of America's enemies. This is of course taking it to an almost comically absurd extreme.

One odd thing was this:

"My son's work still goes on. Where there was one peacemaker before, I now see and have heard from thousands of peacemakers. Nick was a man who acted on his beliefs."

p.s. has anyone said what nick berg was really doing in iraq? i find it hard to believe that he was there to sell satellite dishes. and i just don't get the logic in father berg's statement. does he think that if saddam was still in power these his son would have been treated like the boys at cnn? people ought to think long and hard before they speak because they can easily dispel the myth that they know of what they speak.

God help this grieving father if he thought for one minute that these men had admiration for his son. He is kidding himself. 9/11 was one big group hug, given in the only way these thugs know how to give it. This man needs to wake up. LaLa land does not exist. It is an illusion of Mr. Berg's imagination.

Mike blames himself for Nick's death, since he told his son to stay in Iraq rather than leave like the FBI recommended. But Mike cannot consciously accept the blame, so he must project it onto someone he despised anyway. As old as the poor fellow is, he will probably never sort it all out before he dies.

Yes, we all need to respect each other's differences. So you can see how their intense respect and desire for peaceful coexistence on our small planet left the these noble, admiring gentlemen no choice but to saw off my son's head.

The man's truly unhinged. I mean that quite literally, I think he might be mentally unbalanced. The Guardian should be ashamed of themselves, both for publishing such garbage and for taking advantage of a man in emotional extremis to further their own transparent political goals.

I am also alarmed that the mainstream news media is publishing this stuff. Even if Mike Berg were a bit more sane under normal circumstances, in the present situation he would still be mad with grief. The barbaric murder of his son gives him no special insight into Middle Eastern politics. He deserves our deepest condolences, and he certainly has mine, but there is no good reason for the media to continue to quote him and every good reason for the media to, after offering their condolences, leave him alone. The behavior of the media in this case might make you think that they have some kind of agenda.

You know, we can respect other humans, or we can respect sovereign states. We can't have both, not when other sovereign states are run with not the slightest regard for our fellow humans or for us.

Likewise, we can expect others to live up to the same rules we do - or we can accept that they don't. Again, we've gotta choose between the two. It's astounding how often the Left looks at homicidal dictatorships and assumes that this is how their subjects freely choose to live. If you start with the (rather indisputable) premise that the Saddams and the Zarqawis of the world wish to impose their will on a population that does not want to live that way, all the talk in the world about respecting how other people choose to live falls away to nonsense.

This guy's innocence has a the purity of Elmo or some other character from children's television.

I tried reading his writing in Elmo's voice, but that doesn't work. The blame Bush stuff in every sentence is too severe. Mike Berg is his very own muppet, where between Elmo and Oscar. Paisley furred, I'd guess. "Mike says, war bad! Terrorists just want to be loved."

Feh. In a "Champions" RPG (role-playing game) campaign I'm in right now, I'm playing the part of the most innocent superheroine in the entire world. She makes Belldandy look jaded.

And even she wouldn't say this. (She'd just be sniffling and weeping quietly over the thought that the world has such mean and horrible people like Nick Berg's killers in it, and then go out and non-violently apply some superpowers to drag them in for a fair trial.)

These kinds of statements bother me for other reasons than their dangerous naivetee. They strike me as essentially racist.

They admired him. The man with the knife felt his breath on his hand. They heard his screams. They knew he was a human being with parents and siblings. Knowing all these things, they sawed his head off.

They felt bad about doing it, but they're just Arabs. It's not like they can control their own actions.

Maybe you (Mr. Berg) should run for President, however; you do not have my vote! No sarcasm here.
You are just confused, as that comes with grieving.
Death is extremely hard to deal with especially when broadcasted all over the world.
If Nick believed in God, then maybe celebrate a new life. Just a thought.

I am sure that the one who wielded the knife felt Nick's breath on his hand and knew that he had a real human being there. I am sure that the others looked into my son's eyes and got at least a glimmer of what the rest of the world sees. And I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment, did not like what they were doing.

George Bush never looked into my son's eyes. George Bush doesn't know my son, and he is the worse for it.

How can you not parody that? "Terrorist must be good, they looked at my son and he good! His goodness must have rubbed off."

But after reviewing what his father said to the press. i guess it just seems like WE THE PEOPLE are more sickened by it than he is.

To say "i think they admired my son". omg.
the word admire means respect, think hightly of.
If they were able to carry out an act like that on Nick Berg and they respected him. Can you imagine what they would do to people they did not admire????

I do not think they had any respect or thought highly of Nick Berg. Like i read above, he was merely a dog to them to sacrifice. Shouting allah, allah. Presenting Nick's beheading as a present to their god from them.

Mr. Berg take a hug step back and look at the big picture here. These people/animals hate us, they hate all of us, no matter what we believe. These animals really think they will go to heaven for beheading/murdering anyone that is not of their religion.

If I have said something to upset anyone, sorry. I just can't believe some of the remarks Mr.Berg Stated.

hey their folks. Lets just remember that we only get half the story. While we cant find and hunt and kill the ones we want, we are killing hundreds in their wake. So its not all bad. I dont care if we individually appologize to the whole region, as they look this way, we bomb that way. And im lovin it!!! pass the fries please....

Mikey originally claimed that al-Qaeda was "just as bad" as Bush, and that they had killed "their best friend." Now he seems to think Bush is worse, since they had the pleasure of sawing his head off and bragging about it in front of two video cameras.

If al-Qaeda was really gunning for "their best friend," they seem to have missed their target by one generation.

Oh, and anybody who says it's OK for Papa Berg to say whatever stupid crap comes in his head as some kind of therapy - well, I can understand that. But even if that's your position, you should still be piling on the Guardian for printing this garbage.

I dunno. I feel even more sorry for Michael Berg now. He's clearly gone mad, and needs to tell himself strange things just to make it through the day. I don't think he's a coward ... he's desperately confused. I harbor no ill will for him.

As for the substance of what he said ... The thing that got me was the part about listening after 9-11. We did listen. Everyone I know wanted to know why. The problem is we did listen, but Osama-boy didn't make sense when he explained his reasons. I don't want to assist him in Osama's psycho-fantasy to take over the world.

Mr. Berg has my deepest sympathies for the loss of his son, I'm sure that kind of experience can't be easy....but at the same time I find it so hard to share Mr. Berg's views about his son's brutal murder.

"I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment, did not like what they were doing."

I beleive Mr. Berg is incorrect in assuming this. These murderers have probably done this before and probably will do it again, I am certain that if there faces were not covered you would not have seen sad expressions as they cut his head off, these people beleive that kind of act to be justified, and they won't listen to anything else...I am all for human rights...but whats humane about taking a peaceful man's head?

I beleive Dennis Miller had it right when he compared these terrorists to the zombies from "Dawn of the dead", you cannot reason with these murderers, you need to put a bullet in their head.

and I'm not trying to say I beleive war is the right answer...noone wins in a war,I'd rather everyone on the planet live in peace, but that isn't the real world, people have diffrent views on what the perfect world is and aslong as they do there will always be someone willing to fight

I agree with C. Valentine.
Despite all of the BS in Mr. Berg's words I am still going to give him some slack. At times like this people fall back on their spiritual guidance. Mr. Berg is a leftist moonbat and these are the teachings of his religion. If it turns out that Berg continues this rant and goes on tour with this BS, I reserve the right to condemn him then for promoting his religion on the grave of his son.

I think that their are too many people in this world, thats why their is war and terrorism, too many assholes running around, I feel very bad for mr. berg. My personal opinion is to make people stop having kids for 20 years so our population goes down so people can afford shit and their WILL NOT be as much terrorism!!!

What is going on with this world? It was my understanding that the country that the men responsible for the tragedy of 9/11 hailed from Saudi Arabia. What's up with that? Wrong country huh? I don't see anyone talking about. Where did 11 of the 12- 9/11 hijackers come from? but...Let's talk about exploring the moon.

The point is that it is a tragedy that so many lives have been lost. Our time in Iraq has just begun, there isn't going to be any smooth transition if any to becoming a democratic country. That is like people coming over to the US and forcing us to give up our material goods and live like I am a veteran and I am wondering how many people talking shit have served their country, especially the ones that have an infinity towards this administration. Also, I would love for Bush's daughters to get their asses up and serve their country.

Something that starts off on the wrong foot will end just like its beginning.......

Let start with simply agreeing:
1) Mr. Berg is obviously severly grieved for his son and should receive our sincere, unqualified sympathy.
2) Mr. Berg has obvious anit-war tendancies that started probably sometime back in 1969.
3) Mr. Berg obviously smoked to much hashish back then and now, due to a lack of brain cells, has mistaken the terrorist murders of his son as his past life, peace-nik, make love not war brethern from Asbury Heights.
4) Mr. Berg needs a group hug from a bunch of guys in nice white coats who will give him some medicine to make it all feel better.

Having said all that, I do give my sincere condolences and sympathy to his family. Particularly his mother, who must be doubly greived by the loss of her son and apparent illness of her husband.

I think All you people who put down and be little
MR Berg For speeking hes mind About Bush or anything elese Need to keep your opinion to your self. Why do you think what you say is all good Rember if it wasnt for Bush we wouldnt be there to begain with. If it was my son that it happened to yes I would blame bush and all the people in Irac. And you know what I dont care what any of you people think leave the man alone. Rember he who is with out sin cast the first stone and I do know that you are all sinners. Everone deals with grive in there own way. Boy you people make me so mad who do you think you are to judge Mr Burg

Some of your comments that I have read on this site not only sicken me but prove just how blind some Americans truly are. I have read comments about how violent the Iraq people are. FYI..America was built on the backs of slaves, and not only did they enslave African Americans, but they raped, murdered, hung, burned, and treated them as subhumans, but hey, America is not violent, right!!! It is sad that the majority of people only see what they want to see, but I guess that is how people live with themselves. If you say it long enough, you tend to believe it. America is the best place to live, by far, but do not get it twisted that we are any less violent then other countries. The difference is we know how to hide our shit, and other countries are forth right. So before you past judgement on other countries, races, and Mr. Berg, learn your peoples history. God bless America....

Wow- I always say that labels, especially political labels, should not divide us Americans. You know UNITED WE STAND but holy cow I can't believe how ridiculous the left can be. It's unreal.I do believe he's got bees in his bonnet to say such things.And to Michelle- this is America, you know where there is a free-SAFE-Public Library in just about every town. Make use of your local library-you are practically illiterate.God Bless us all.

Capt joe you must not have much of a personal life because you seem to comment on everybody's comments. You asked WTF am I talking about? As I said in the beginning of my comment it was for the people who stated that they could not believe that Mr. Berg does not realize just how violent that county is. This country is just as violent and in a mainstream kind of way. Why the F... are your bringing up European Colonial experiences, and tibet. I am talking about this country's violent past, not tibet, russia, or china. You get my gist? Your attempt at making any point at all has failed. Get a life......

Sioux if you have any better ideas for this country at this point and time could you please share them. I dunno where you grew up but where im from sitting around waiting for other people to be violent was a sure way to get your ass kicked.The fact that you say America was violent in the past because of the slavery of African Americans? Thats horseshit most slaves were sold to America by their own countries.

I think that the whole Islamic world should be wiped off the face of the earth. How many Americans do we let die before we realize that there is no compromising with these animals? Survival of the fittest... Blow those mother fuckers away. Anyone who can kill innocent civilians the way that they have shown deserves no place in this world. Blow there fucking land away and stop all the bullshitting.

War. It's just like a chess game. We either make a move to dominate or be dominated. Heck, these people don't give a f*ck about us. They don't don't even show sempathy for there own people.Our freedom here in the US is what I believe triggers the hatred upon us. It's a good thing we don't think like the Isralis cause if we do we would'nt be in this situation. It's a bad thing we got to go to war, but it's for the good.It's sad to hear about the lost of americans everyday in Irag and I believe our superiors in this country are handling this WAR to the best of there abilities.We must radiate the cancers that are destroying not only this country,but this world.

When I first learned of Nick Berg's death, I was on a business trip in Daytona Beach and I saw the headline on the newspaper which was delivered to my hotel room. The photo accompanying the headline was that of Mike Berg almost collapsing into his other son's arms. I was moved beyond measure at this sight. The pain I imagined him feeling was incomprehensible.

After reading his comments above, I am truly in shock. That he could give those monsters, those inhumane scumbags, a drop of dignity. I wanted to throw up when he implied they were capable of an inkling of human compassion. Did Mr. Berg actually think those murdering animals were capable of believing that Nick Berg was even a human being? They killed him as easily as they kill their own wives. Come on MR. BERG, these savages murdered your son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!There is only ONE response to that Mr. Berg-------OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT compassion!!!!!!!!!

Fucking Blow those bastards off the face of the earth!!!! Every last one of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!But first take every towel head in the U.S. and ship them over to their beloved fucking homeland before we turn them into particle dust!!!!!!!!!!